The invention relates to an apparatus for positioning flexible printing plates comprising at least two markings onto a printing cylinder, comprising: support means for the printing cylinder; projection means for projecting reference marks on the printing cylinder at a location where the markings will have to come; and display means for displaying the markings and the reference markings.
Such an apparatus is known from EP-A-0329228.
In this known apparatus the flexible printing plate has to be positioned manually on the printing cylinder. It is assumed, that the flexible printing plate to be positioned comprises two markings, and that by the apparatus reference markings are projected on the position, where, with a correct positioning of the printing plate, the markings provided on the printing plate will be located. The remaining part of the flexible printing plate will be suspended along the printing cylinder, which adversely effects the positioning processes, as the gravity will try to pull the printing plate downward. Further, the chance that the printing plate will be damaged by these actions is considerable.
The aim of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus, in which the disadvantages mentioned above are avoided.